Final Winter Jobs You Need To Do Now Before Spring Arrives

Winter may not quite be finished with us yet, but the garden certainly thinks it is. The days are lengthening, the soil is slowly warming, and plants are preparing to burst into life.

That means there’s a small but important window to finish a few essential winter jobs before spring properly gets underway. Leave them too late and you’ll either be playing catch-up all year or dealing with problems that could have been easily avoided.

Here are the final jobs to tackle right now.

1. Prune Fruit Trees, Ornamentals, Wisteria and Roses

There is likely only a fortnight or so left to complete winter pruning. Yet many gardens I pass still haven’t had so much as a thoughtful snip.

Are you charlatans, sausages and savages who simply don’t care? If so, fair enough — it is your garden after all. But if you do care, it’s time to get moving.

Pruning is vital for:

• Maintaining the health of the tree

• Encouraging strong structure

• Maximising fruit or flower production

• Reducing disease risk

• Keeping size and weight manageable

Young or shallow-rooted trees in particular rely on good pruning to maintain balance between their canopy and root system. Leave it too late and cuts won’t heal properly as the tree begins active growth.

In short: get the secateurs out while you still can.

2. Tidy Up Shrubs and Hedges

Now is the time to bring hedges and shrubs back into shape.

Cutting them before growth begins helps maintain:

• A healthy structure

• Even density

• Fewer gaps and leggy sections

Timing matters here for another reason as well: nesting birds.

By March, birds begin establishing nests and once that happens, hedge cutting becomes a firm no-go. Attempt it then and you may find your local bird lovers expressing their displeasure rather enthusiastically.

Best to finish the job now and keep both gardeners and wildlife happy.

3. Apply Your Spring Mulch

Before young shoots begin emerging everywhere, apply your spring mulch.

A good mulch will:

• Give new plants the best start

• Suppress weeds

• Help retain moisture

• Offer protection against late frosts

This assumes, of course, that you were well-behaved gardeners and applied a winter mulch earlier in the season to improve soil health and structure.

Yes, ideally it’s done twice a year. The process is similar, but the purposes are slightly different — winter mulch feeds the soil, spring mulch protects and supports new growth.

4. Plant Bare Root Trees and Spring Bulbs

If you’ve been thinking about planting bare root trees or bulbs, stop prevaricating and get on with it.

Bare root plants remain dormant for only a limited window. Once they wake up and begin growing, planting becomes far less successful.

Plant them now while the soil is workable and still cool — they’ll establish quietly underground before spring growth begins.

5. Build Raised Beds and Kitchen Gardens

If you’re planning raised beds or a kitchen garden this year, now is the moment to build them.

Once constructed:

1. Fill with compost

2. Leave it for two weeks to settle and come alive

3. Allow the soil structure to begin developing

When planting, disturb the compost as little as possible. Add a little horticultural sand for drainage and finish with around an inch of topsoil.

Do it properly and — as the saying goes — Bob’s your uncle. Your horticultural dreams will flourish.

Leave it too late and you’ll likely spend the rest of the year playing catch-up.

6. Lawns: Patience… For Now

It’s slightly too early to start major lawn work.

Unless you’re planning a complete reset, the key indicator is temperature. Once night temperatures stay above 5°C for five consecutive nights, the lawn season begins.

That’s the starting gun.

If your goal is a perfect lawn by June, it’s a race you cannot afford to join late.